Thaw My Heart
by Emma and Ana2442
Summary: Another new member has joined FairyTail, and with power the strength of a god, a dark secret, and a surprising choice of a best friend, she has the entire guild in an uproar. One Ice Mage in particular is more than intrigued by this frosty wizard, but her mysterious past leaves everyone with unanswered questions. Yet Gray is determined to find these answers... no matter the cost.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **_E: Hey guys! So this is the long-awaited pairing of myself and Anabelle Blake. This is a continuation of her amazing stories Dragon's Heart and Key to my Heart. For those of you who have read both stories, this is kind of like a different version of Warm My Heart (a very different version). Anabelle's OC's will be featured heavily in this story, so I recommend reading DH and KtmH first, especially because they're amazing! _

_**A: I hope you have as much fun reading this chapter as Emma and I've had while writing it. Enjoy my lovelies!**_

**Part 1: The Ice Bitch**

"Hey guys, did you hear about the new girl?" Natsu asked as he joined Lucy, Erza, Kaia, and Gray where they were sitting in the guild hall.

"There's a new girl?" Kaia asked interestedly, looking around as though hoping to spot a new face in the crowd.

"Yeah, Mira said she just joined this morning," Natsu continued as he took a seat. "Apparently she got her guild mark, took a look at the Request Board, grabbed a job and took off. I don't know what her name is yet."

"That's too bad, I would have liked to welcome her to FairyTail," Lucy said regretfully. No later had the words left her mouth when the doors burst open to reveal a fierce looking girl none of them had ever seen before. Her hair was long, ice blonde and pushed over her left shoulder, though her bangs were falling into her face. Her eyes had a hard glint to them, and from what Natsu, Lucy, Erza, Kaia, and Gray could see, they almost looked pitch black. Though the weather was freezing, being one of the coldest winters Fiore had seen in recent memory, she was dressed in a jeans shorts and a belly shirt. Most peculiar of all was a thin, silver circlet she wore around her head. Dangling from this circlet was a beautiful silver pendant that looked like a six pointed star.

"There's your new girl for you," Erza stated obviously. The girl seemed oblivious to any of the stares she was receiving and walked straight up to Mira, and ordered a cup full of crushed ice.

"Well, I'm going to go talk to her," Lucy said confidently, and marched straight up to the girl. Natsu, Kaia, and Erza followed. Now that they were closer, they could see that her eyes were actually a very dark brown instead of black. "Hi, and welcome to FairyTail! My name's Lucy," Lucy exclaimed once the group had reached their destination.

The girl tipped more ice into her mouth before addressing Lucy. "Lavinia," she answered.

"Um, what?" Natsu asked, confused.

"My name's Lavinia," Lavinia repeated before dumping more ice in her mouth.

"I can't believe you already finished a job," Mira said, suddenly joining the conversation. Lavinia just shrugged.

"It was just helping a farmer clear away some snow for his crops," she said between gulps of ice. Lucy was starting to compare her ice intake to Cana's alcohol consumption. "I just needed the quick, easy money to find a place to stay before I could save up enough to buy or rent an apartment."

"Well, why don't you just stay with me and Natsu?" Kaia offered. Natsu gave his wife a confused look, but Kaia just placated him with a pat to the head. "That way you don't have to worry about wasting your money on a new hotel room every night." Lavinia gave Kaia a puzzled look.

"You would do that for me? You aren't worried that I would cause unneeded trouble?" she asked in a surprisingly venerable sounding voice.

"Of course! That's what fellow guild members are for," Kaia assured Lavinia. "It's no trouble at all. In fact, why don't you come with us on our next job?"

A small smile appeared on Lavinia's lips. "I'd like that," she told Kaia.

"All right!" Natsu exclaimed. "Be prepared to witness the power of the strongest team in the guild! I'm Natsu by the way, and that's Erza," he said, pointed out the warrior.

"And Gray is the other member of our te-GRAY WHY ARE YOU STILL OVER THERE?!" Lucy yelled upon seeing that Gray was still at the table they were originally sitting at. Only now did his fellow guild members realize that he was staring at Lavinia, never once taking his eyes off her.

"Does he always go around shirtless?" Lavinia asked, clearly confused. Lucy groaned as the guild once again found Gray without a shirt on.

"Gray fantasizes about being a stripper," Natsu proclaimed loud enough for the Ice Mage to hear. That seemed to snap Gray out of his daydream.

"What did you say you squinty-eyed bastard!?" Gray growled as he ran up and hit his forehead against Natsu's, a bright icy blue aura surrounding him. Natsu glared back at him as an orange aura flared up around the pink haired Slayer.

"What, your hearing going out in your old age you droopy-eyed snowball!?" he growled, pushing his forehead back at Gray's.

"That's enough you two." Surprisingly it was Kaia who said it instead of Erza as she pushed them each to her arm's length. "I already have enough pregnant hormones and mood swings and I don't wanna deal with you guys' PMSing at each other," she huffed. Natsu lost his fire and looked at her in concern.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"No, I want Tessa to come back to the flipping guild and help me with my back again but I'm too far pregnant," she pouted.

"Sorry, I can call Loke and he can get her and see if she has any other remedies," Lucy offered.

"Yes please," Kaia smiled.

"Alright." The blonde nodded and then took Leo's key off of her key ring. "Open! Gate of the Lion, Leo!" she called as she slashed a cross in the air with her key. It took a couple seconds longer but Loke appeared before her, his hair a little messy and his suit disheveled.

"What have you been up to?" Kaia giggled, knowing the rumpled look all too well from when her and Natsu had a quick round of fun.

"Nothing much," he shrugged evasively. "What did you need, I was kind of busy?" he asked Lucy.

"I thought you just said you weren't really up to anything?" the blonde accused.

"Well yeah, I was busy relaxing and hanging out with some people," he shrugged casually.

"Would one of those people happen to be Tessa, if so go back and bring her here 'cause my back is killing me. Oh and by the way, this is another new guild member Lavinia," Kaia said hastily.

Lavinia, who had been watching the whole interaction take place with a quiet amusement (while downing several more cups of ice in the process), inclined her head to Loke when she was introduced. Loke said hello to her, and then quickly left to fetch Tessa.

"Well, that was kind of weird," Gray remarked. "Usually he would have flirted with Lavinia instead of just saying hello." Lavinia gave him a weird look, which Gray couldn't understand.

"You do realize you just took your pants off, don't you?" she asked. The Ice Mage blushed and quickly went to retrieve his clothes.

Loke came back empty handed. "I couldn't find her, sorry," he frowned, looking concerned about something.

"That's okay I guess…. I'll just go sit down," Kaia pouted. Loke nodded and then said goodbye to everyone. He acted like he was going to vanish but then turned back around as though he suddenly remembered something.

"Oh, by the way Lucy," he started, and then lightly smacked her butt. Lucy immediately screamed at him.

"_WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR_?" she screeched, rounding on Loke. He held up his hands in surrender, claiming that Tessa told him to do it. With this new information, it took Kaia and Erza a good five minutes to calm Lucy down.

"Wait! I thought you said you couldn't find her!" Lucy accused. "You're just trying to blame Tessa for your perverted tendencies!"

"W- no! I mean- she- I- we-…." Everyone gaped; was the lion spirit _blushing_?

"You were with her before you came here weren't you?" Kaia asked calmly. He reluctantly nodded. "And you found her, she just wasn't decent huh?" She giggled this time.

"No! Wait, I mean-…. Oh forget it," he grumbled. "We were just hanging out and talking and then when I got back she was gone," he shrugged.

"How was she gone?"

"Uh… She left….." he said slowly.

"That quickly?"

"Yeah I guess," he shrugged. "Well I'm off now that I did everything I needed to," with that he vanished while Lucy started screaming again as he poofed back into his world.

"Well, now that that's all over, we should go see if there are any jobs that we want to do," Natsu said as he hurried over to the request board.

"Hey, how about we do an S-Class quest, they pay better money so we each get a bigger cut," Lucy suggested, forgetting about Loke for a moment.

"I don't know if that would be the best idea since Lavinia just start-" Erza began, but the new girl cut her off.

"I'm sure I can manage," Lavinia assured them. "I've been in dangerous situations before, and besides, how many of you are S-Class?" The entire group confirmed Lavinia of their elite status. "If we have five S-Class wizards, I'm sure that there wouldn't be any reason that I wouldn't be able to cope," she finished.

"Well, there would only be four," Kaia grumbled. Lavinia gave her a questioning look. "I can't take any missions," she explained while rubbing her swollen belly.

"Oh yeah," Natsu muttered. "I should sit this one out too, guys," he said, coming back over and putting his hand over Kaia's on her stomach.

"Natsu, we need the money to keep up with our eating habits," Kaia reminded him.

"Don't you mean flame-brain's eating habits?" Gray questioned.

"No, I'm eating for two Gray. And on top of that I usually eat enough food to rival Natsu when I'm eating just for me," she reminded him.

"Oh…. Right…" Gray muttered looking down at her stomach awkwardly.

"If you hadn't broken up with Juvia you could be starting a family right now too," she teased. He actually blushed and glared at her.

"It didn't work out, you know that," he grumbled.

"Only because you can't hold on to your women, Ice Princess," Natsu teased.

"You wanna go, fire-breath?" Gray growled, standing up abruptly.

"Bring it on, you droopy-eyed stripper!" Natsu yelled, now face-to-face with Gray.

"ENOUGH!" someone yelled. Both boys sweat-dropped as they stared at Lavinia, who had risen from her seat and was glaring at the two. "If you two keep doing this, I'm only going to go on missions with Erza and Lucy. Both of you better behave, because I'm not afraid to kick both of your butts." Neither Gray nor Natsu had any words as Lavinia stared them down. They quickly took their seats again, shamed to silence.

"I like this girl!" Lucy, Kaia, and Erza said at the same time. "She doesn't take any crap, not even from those two!" Kaia added. Lavinia gave the bluenette a wry smile.

"Well, if it's alright with you, Kaia, would you mind showing me where you live, so I can settle in without disturbing the two of you? You're sure this is okay?" Lavinia asked.

"Of course, it's no problem," Kaia said in a friendly way. "Come on let's go! You guys choose a mission," she called back to the remaining members of her usual team before leaving the guild hall with Lavinia. Lucy, Erza, and even Natsu noticed that Gray followed Lavinia with his eyes until she was out of sight.

"Well, how about I go pick a job for us," Lucy said, trying desperately to diffuse the awkward situation that still hung in the air. She hurried upstairs to check out the requests. One of them immediately caught her eye, so she brought it back downstairs to see what Erza, Gray, and Natsu thought of the mission.

"Hey guys, what about this one?" Lucy asked, laying the paper out between them. It was a request to take out a monster that was wreaking havoc in a faraway village. "It shouldn't be too hard, we've done things like this before," Lucy reasoned.

"Still, it has to be a pretty powerful monster to be S-Class," Erza said thoughtfully. She wondered what kind of monster it would be, and what kind of magic would be best used to defeat it. "It's a good thing we have so many different types of mages going with us, the flyer is pretty vague."

"Ah crap," Gray suddenly muttered from his seat. All heads turned to him. "We have no idea what Lavinia's powers are," he reminded his team.

"I'll ask when I head home later," Natsu said. "You would notice that though, Ice Princess," he chortled, addressing Gray.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gray snapped, instantly getting defensive.

"Oh, nothing," Natsu taunted coyly. "Just the fact that we all noticed how you were staring at her. Although that could have been the fact that she was eating ice-" the Slayer didn't get another word out as Gray began shouting at him, and before long they were in a scuffle. Erza sighed in exasperation before breaking them apart.

Behind the counter, Mira chuckled. _ Just another normal day at the guild_, she thought happily to herself.

She would have no idea how wrong she was.

**~TMH~**

"Well, here it is," Kaia said, her arm outstretched as if showcasing her house. Lavinia stepped inside carefully, not wanting to disturb anything. She noticed that half of the room looked like it had been scrupulously cleaned, and the other half was an absolute mess. "I'm so sorry about the state of this place," Kaia apologized, also noticing the mess. "Natsu wouldn't know what clean was if it bit him in the butt."

Lavinia let out one dry chuckle. "I don't mind," she assured Kaia. "I've slept in much less pleasant places before, trust me." Kaia waited a minute, but Lavinia didn't continue, so the bluenette didn't pry.

"Would you rather sleep on the bed with me?" Kaia asked. "I can always kick Natsu to the couch."

"I'm already intruding on your hospitality, I insist I take the couch," Lavinia said rather forcefully. Kaia shrugged, knowing that she wouldn't be able to change the platinum blonde's mind. Instead she grabbed a few of the spare blankets and began arranging a bed for Lavinia on the large couch.

It wasn't long before Natsu came home. Happy and Rose were with him. "So Lavinia, we decided that we were gonna take on a beast that is ravaging some village. It's gonna be awesome!" he exclaimed overexcitedly. "By the way, what's your power?" he suddenly asked.

"I'm a Frost God-Slayer," Lavinia answered, acting as if she didn't just reveal that she knew one of the most ancient and powerful, not to mention extremely rare, types of magic.

"Woah," Kaia muttered. "That's some powerful magic right there."

"But not as awesome as being a Dragon Slayer!" Natsu proclaimed. "I'm a fire Dragon Slayer, and Kaia is a water and ice Dragon Slayer. Lucy uses Celestial Magic, Erza uses Requip Magic, and Gray uses Ice-Make Magic. Oh! Just wait until he figures out that you also use a form of Ice Magic! Ha, he's gonna go insane!" Lavinia simply stared at Natsu, one eyebrow raised slightly as he went over the numerous ways he could torture Gray with this new information. However, when Natsu had mentioned that he practiced fire magic, Kaia thought she saw a look of uncertainty and maybe even fear flicker over the blonde's harsh features. But the look was so quick that the bluenette thought she might have imagined it. Now, the only emotion that could be read on Lavinia's face was utter confusion while Natsu kept talking.

Kaia noticed the girl's confusion. "So, anyway, why were you eating so much ice back at the guild? Gray usually has a really cold body temperature, so wouldn't you too?"

Lavinia shook her head. "I feel heat more than most people," she muttered. "I prefer to keep myself on the cooler side. It's much more comfortable for me."

"Oh in that case do you need more ice? If so I can totally make however much you need, please say yes. You're really be helping me out," Kaia smiled.

"I usually have around thirty cups a day, if I'm at a place where I'm able to have that much. Why would it be helping you out?" the blonde inquired.

"Oh I keep forgetting that you're _brand_ new to the guild,' Kaia said sheepishly as she rubbed one of her arms. "I have too much magic power for my body to really contain. It tends to…. Uh….-"

"It's basically eroding her from the inside out. So any amount of magic she can get rid of is welcomed," Rose cut in.

"Well, in that case, I'd like a glass of ice," Lavinia immediately said. Kaia smiled and immediately grabbed a cup and filled it with crushed ice. Lavinia took it gratefully and starting dumping the ice down her throat like she hadn't had anything to drink in days.

"So, when do we leave for the mission?" the blonde asked Natsu between gulps of ice. Natsu, who had been staring at her swallow the ice whole in shock, quickly shook his head and answered that they would leave on the morrow. "Good," Lavinia answered, holding her now empty cup out for more ice, which Kaia happily supplied. "I hate just sitting around doing nothing. Not that I don't appreciate you letting me stay here for a while."

"Well, we're happy to have you stay here as long as you need to," Kaia assured. The three of them talked for a while longer, until the sun had long set over the horizon. Since the baby made Kaia much more tired than usual, she went to bed pretty early. To Natsu's surprise, Lavinia followed suit. She dragged herself over to the couch, selected the thinnest blanket Kaia had laid out, and fell asleep almost immediately.

Pumped for the mission the next day, Natsu stayed up a bit longer, talking to Happy, but soon enough he joined his wife in their bed. He wasn't aware of the tossing and turning of the woman on his couch, as she felt as if she was literally on fire.

**A/N: **_**A: So fun times in the first chapter. Looks like somebody's crushing hard!**_

_E: This collaboration is absolute genius. Anabelle and I have many more surprises in store for you, and the first of which is that the second chapter will be out later today. I hope you liked the first little bit of this story, and don't forget to review!_


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **_E: Told you the next chapter would be up today. Bad news is, it's not always going to be this fast, but updates will be pretty regular. Good news is, we get to see a lot of Lavinia's power in this chapter, and we learn a lot of interesting things about her. I hope you like it!_

_**A: I'm so glad to see our story is getting such a positive response after only one chapter, well two now! Haha. Hello to my fellow readers who've carried over from my other stories! And greetings to the new people who are joining us!**_

* * *

><p><em>Previously on Thaw My Heart<em>

_Pumped for the mission the next day, Natsu stayed up a bit longer, talking to Happy, but soon enough he joined his wife in their bed. He wasn't aware of the tossing and turning of the woman on his couch, as she felt as if she was literally on fire._

Now…

When Kaia and Natsu awoke early the next morning, they were surprised to find Lavinia already up and ready, folding the blankets back over the couch. Still, nothing could have prepared them for the shock they felt when Lavinia turned towards them to wish them a good morning.

Her face, which yesterday had been pretty porcelain in color, was bright, almost blistering red. Upon closer inspection, to Kaia and Natsu it looked as though her whole body had suffered first degree burns. "What happened to your skin?" Natsu asked, while Kaia prodded him with her elbow for his lack of tact.

"I'm fine," Lavinia muttered, suddenly becoming very interested in the arranging of the blankets.

"Your skin looks like a tomato!" Natsu exclaimed before Kaia could grab his ear and drag him from the room. "What was that for?" he asked his wife indignantly once they reentered their bedroom.

The bluenette rolled her eyes at Natsu's ignorance. "She obviously doesn't want to mention it," Kaia explained. "If she doesn't want to talk, she doesn't want to talk. Give her space. You have to remember that she's new to the guild and doesn't really know anyone yet. She'll talk when she's ready."

"I just want to make sure she isn't hurt," Natsu defended. "The guild is our family, and just because she's new doesn't mean that she's any less important. If something is hurting her, I want to fix it."

Kaia smiled at Natsu's protectiveness; it was one of the many reasons she had fallen for him in the first place. Still, she knew it wasn't Natsu's place to pry. "Just let her get a feel for the guild and for us first," she reminded her husband. "If it's something that becomes a huge deal and is really hurting her, we'll deal with it. Until then, don't worry."

After a moment, Natsu nodded his consent, so he and Kaia walked back into the living room, neither of them mentioning Lavinia's skin (though both dragon-slayers noticed that it was slowly growing ever paler by the minute). Kaia offered a cup of ice to the God-slayer before she left, which the blonde happily accepted. This accelerated the skin color change even further, so by the time she, Natsu, and Happy walked out of the door to meet the others the guild, Lavinia's skin was almost exactly the same shade as the previous night.

Erza, Lucy, and Gray were already at the guild when Natsu, Happy, and Lavinia arrived. This time, Gray was fully clothed, but Erza had her usual armada of supplies that she saw fit to bring on every mission. Mira, who was the only other person at the guild, gave the group a happy sendoff (including yet another glass of ice for Lavinia). The team gathered in a train that would take them to their destination, which was quite a ways away from FairyTail. Erza knocked out Natsu so that he wouldn't have to suffer with his motion sickness. The remaining members each wanted to know more about Lavinia, but they could tell that she wasn't exactly the sharing type.

Finally, after several moments of awkward silence, Lucy was the one to take the plunge. "So, Lavinia, that's a really neat head circlet," the blonde said, trying to keep a positive tone.

Lavinia slowly reached one hand up to touch the delicate star that hung from the circlet. "Thank you," she murmured, her voice barely over a whisper.

"Where did you get it?" Gray inquired. This time it took so long for Lavinia to answer Gray almost wondered if she hadn't heard him properly.

"A friend of mine gave it to me," she answered the Ice-Mage hesitantly. "He was trying to stop a monster, and died in the process. He knew that he was not going to come back alive, so he gave this to me to remember him by. It was his mother's before mine."

After that, Lavinia refused to say anything more about her circlet. It was obvious to Lucy and Erza at least that she had a strong bond with the person who had given it to her, and remembering him was causing her pain. Instead, they focused on small-talk instead, including a discussion about Lavinia's power. Gray's eyes almost popped out of their sockets when the blonde revealed she was a Frost God-Slayer.

"So what does that mean exactly?" he asked Lavinia.

"Well, obviously God-Slaying is one of the rarest types of magic," Lavinia answered. "I suspect that I'm the only person alive that actually uses the Frost type. Long ago, when the gods actually taught their magic to humans, there was only one who was brave enough to learn from the Frost God, who was well known for having the coldest heart and the harshest demeanor. This person, Mirain, then picked a single pupil to instruct, teaching this pupil all that she knew. And in this way it has continued down the line of Frost God-Slayers, up until me. We have a very specific skill set: we freeze. We can control the natural snow, but ice is our domain. For example, if I were to touch one of you with the intent of freezing, it would happen. It makes me difficult to take down in a fight."

"Wow," Happy said, his eyes wide. "Hey, can you show us something?"

Lavinia smiled. "Of course, if you have something that you don't mind me freezing." Happy dug around in the bag Natsu had brought along (the dragon-slayer was still knocked out cold) until he procured an apple. Happy tossed the fruit to Lavinia, while everyone else leaned in closer, eager to see what would happen.

Lavinia held her hand out completely flat, with the apple in the center. Concentrating, she burst out "Frost God: Freeze!" Immediately ice covered the apple, but this ice was nothing any of them had seen before. Instead of the beautiful crystalline light blue substance Gray always produced, the apple was covered with glossy black colored ice. Instantly, Lavinia seemed to become more dangerous to all of them. Lucy for one was incredibly grateful that the God-slayer was on their side.

The rest of their talk was mostly idle chatter, and Lavinia learned of all the things the group had been through over the years. She was especially impressed with Erza's abilities, specifically when Erza described the Tower of Heaven.

So long was their train ride that the weather was already beginning to grow colder, the sun slowly fading away as the group departed the train and made their way into the village (Natsu, who had woken up, had spent the last hour in what he had described was utter agony). Before long, they had reached the town. The town was fortified with poorly constructed barriers of logs, some of which had been cut in a sharp point. Erza, the unspoken leader, stepped forward to speak. "People of this village, we are mages of FairyTail. We have come to answer your summons!"

For a few moments, all was still, but one head cautiously peeped over the wall. "If you are the mages, prove it!" he tried to say in a sturdy voice, but his tone quivered. "Let me see your guild marks."

The familiar tradition began. Lucy brought her left hand up above her head, Erza bared her arm, and Natsu exposed his shoulder.

Gray, as usual, was lifting his T-shirt (which was thankfully still on), but his mark was only shown for a moment before his hand became slack. Gray had looked over at Lavinia and what he saw caused his imagination to burst into fantasies.

Throughout the train ride, Gray had become more and more intrigued with Lavinia. The girl possessed a dry, almost acerbic wit, but all the while remained mysterious about her past. She didn't take crap from anyone, not even he and Natsu. She respected leaders, such as Erza, but also didn't put her full trust in others; she could rely on herself if need be. Not to mention that Gray found the God-Slayer totally hot.

Lavinia had her finger hooked into one of the loops of her jean shorts, and had pulled the garment down slightly to reveal her dark purple guild mark, which rested on the lower part of her left hip. Just a centimeter more, and Lavinia would have been exposing a much different part of her body… one that Gray couldn't help but think of.

"What are you staring at Gray?" Erza demanded. Lavinia had pulled her shorts back up (though this had done nothing to quench Gray's mind), so Erza had no clue what the issue was. When the Ice-Mage didn't respond to her voice, Erza scoffed for a second before grabbing his arm and dragging him into the town, where the man they had initially met began leading them to the town square. The sharp movement was what finally broke Gray out of his daydream.

"What the hell, Erza?" Gray huffed, yanking his arm back. "I can walk by myself."

"Apparently not," Natsu grinned, a very satisfied look on his face. He had seen the whole episode and knew exactly why Gray had been so flustered. "Who would have known that such a 'cool' ice guy could be so easily distracted, just by a girl's hips? I guess you're not getting enough _attention_ in your life, if you know what I mean. Do you need like, five minutes alone in the bathroom or something?"

"Shut the hell up about my life, flame-brain!" Gray yelled, but to Natsu's enjoyment, a faint blush was coloring the Ice-Mage's cheeks.

"No more!" Lavinia called from in front of the two boys, where she was walking with Erza and Lucy. Gray and Natsu both turned away from each other and sweat-dropped, almost as intimidated by the ice blonde as they were of Erza. Lavinia glared at them for a minute longer before facing front again. Natsu quickly took the opportunity to tease Gray even further.

"I'm sure you'd do anything Lavinia told you," the fire dragon muttered under his breath. This enflamed Gray's temper yet again, but he was unable to retaliate due to the fact that they had reached their destination.

The man they had met, whom they assumed was the leader of the town, was just opening his mouth to speak when a deafening roar pierced the air. The leader's face grew pale with fright and pointed near the source of the noise. "That. We want you to defeat that," he said before running inside a nearby building.

"Let's do this," Erza said, drawing her sword. More roars were heard, and something was knocking down trees in the nearby forest. Not wanting to risk their pay by accidentally destroying the town, Erza raced forward, hoping to intercept the monster before it got too close.

It wasn't long before they found it. The thing was enormous and dark brown in color. Its massive arms swept from side to side, knocking over everything they touched. The five mages prepared for battle.

Erza quickly requipped into her heaven's wheel armor and flew towards the beast, brandishing her sword. Lucy pulled out her ring of keys and selected one. "Open Gate of the Bull: Taurus!" she called in a strong voice, swinging the key in a cross shape. The bull came out with his axe, prepared to fight (but not before commenting on how hot he thought Lucy looked, angering the Celestial Wizard).

"Ice-Make: Lance!" Gray shouted, and a huge lance of ice went directly into the creature's chest. It screamed for a moment, and Gray smiled, sure he had made a powerful hit. However, after only moment, the wound he had inflicted healed over, and the beast concentrated on Erza and Taurus, who were slashing the monster everywhere they could, but they was encountering the same results as Gray.

Suddenly, Lavinia launched into the sky. Gray hadn't even heard her say a spell name, but saw that she had created a launching pad for herself. She landed on the monster's shoulder, and immediately froze his arm, resulting in cheers from the group.

"Time to heat things up!" Natsu proclaimed. "Fire-Dragon: Roar!" Issues of fire came streaming from his mouth, heading towards the beast. Flames went squarely into its neck, but a loud, female scream was the most prominent sound heard, and a lone figure was flying backwards.

"Lavinia!" Gray screamed in despair, already racing towards her, even though he knew he'd never make it before she hit the ground. "Ice-Make: Tower!" he yelled in desperation, and a slanting tower burst from under his feet, propelling him forward just in time for Lavinia to fall into his arms. In the midst of the confusion, the monster ran off, away from the town, and disappeared.

Erza, Lucy, and Natsu ran over to where Gray held Lavinia. The blonde was unconscious, and a harsh burn was on her left arm. "Look what you did!" Gray screamed at the dragon-slayer. "You burned her! She's already sensitive to heat and _you freaking burned her_!"

"It-it was an accident," Natsu defended weakly. He really hadn't meant Lavinia any harm, and he was horrified that he had accidentally hurt one of his own guild members.

"Let's just worry about healing her," Erza said in a concerned tone. "Gray, do you think you could do something about it?" Gray nodded.

"Ice-Make: Sheet," he said in a surprisingly tender voice. A small sheet of ice appeared, and Gray gently laid it on Lavinia's burn. The blonde suddenly gasped and arched her back, eyes flying open.

"What happened," she asked immediately. "Where did the monster go?"

"It disappeared," Gray answered. "And Natsu accidentally burned you while you were on it."

"Lavinia… I'm so sor-" Natsu began, but the injured blonde cut him off.

"It's fine, I know you didn't do it on purpose. I'll be fine," she assured the group. Contrary to her words, her tone was weak, and she was panting heavily. "I would appreciate more ice though." Gray looked down, and saw that his sheet had already melted. He put his hands directly on the burn and Lavinia sighed in relief. "That feels nice," she whispered.

Once again, the God-slayer had unknowingly made Gray stare in shock at her. That sigh that she had let out sounded almost like a little moan… and the things that Gray wanted to do to her to hear that moan again.

"Can't you hear her, stripper?" Natsu's loud voice suddenly broke Gray out of his fantasy. "She needs ice!" Natsu yelled gesturing towards Lavinia. Sure enough, the blonde was asking for a cup of ice. Gray nodded, standing up for he could perform the magic.

"Happy, can you get a bowl or cup from our supplies? I'm sure I packed something we can put the ice into," Erza asked their flying friend. Happy agreed with a firm "Aye!" and flew off as fast as he could. Moments later he returned with a cup, the same that Lavinia had been using on their train ride over.

As soon as the cup was given to Lavinia, Gray put his fist down into his palm. "Ice-Make:… Cubes?" His voice started out strong but lost confidence as he was uncertain what to call the creation.

"Little unsure there droopy eyes?" Natsu snickered.

"Shut up fire freak! I've never had to make just ice before, it's always had to have some shape!" Gray huffed in response. Erza glared at them to stop their arguing before it could develop into a full-fledged fight, and caught the cubes that Gray had created into Lavinia's cup. Lucy helped the injured blonde sit her head up so she could dump the ice past her throat. Gray ended up having to make five full cups before the God-slayer was satiated.

"I think now would be a good time to retire for bed," Erza rationed. "We'll make camp here in case the monster comes back."

"We should have someone keep watch if the thing tries to sneak up on us," Gray muttered. The rest of the group was unanimous in their agreement. "I can do it," the ice mage continued. "I'm nowhere near tired."

"I could do it. I won't be able to sleep anyway," Lavinia muttered. She was met with immediate protests, and she knew that it was no good arguing; she was going to be run down either way. She reluctantly rested her head against a nearby tree trunk, passing up the blanket Erza tried to offer her. Natsu, Lucy, Erza, and Happy all fell asleep quickly, tired after their melee with the monster.

But Lavinia was determined not to go to sleep. She had done so last night, and she had lots of practice with not sleeping for a few nights in a row. Besides that, she hated to sleep where other people would be watching her. Especially if that other person was Gray... Lavinia didn't know why, but being around the black-haired ice mage unnerved her, even when he was fully clothed.

At first, Lavinia did well with her goal of staying up all night. She was a powerful mage; she knew that a few nights of unrest would not mean she would be unfit to fight the monster on the morrow. But the wound Natsu had accidentally inflicted upon her was taking a bigger toll then she was willing to admit, even to herself. She was exhausted from having a burn like that; she hadn't had one that severe for years…

Slowly, unwillingly, Lavinia felt her eyelids getting heavier and heavier. Even she was not immortal. She didn't know when it happened, but it had to have happened. Because the next thing she knew, her world was on fire.

For a few hours, everything was quiet. Gray was considering waking up Erza and getting some sleep. He knew that the next day Erza would insist on tracking the beast, and Gray wasn't looking forward to that. He hadn't quite made up his mind yet when quiet, pain-filled moans filled the air. He immediately turned his head toward the source of the moans, and found them coming from Lavinia. He got up and once and started over to her, but before he had even crossed that short distance, Lavinia was screaming bloody-murder, effectively waking everyone else in their little party up.

"Lavinia! Wake up!" Gray yelled, gently shaking the ice-blonde. Her eyes shot wide open and only now did Gray notice how red her skin was. The burn looked much worse than it had before, and everything from her scalp to her toes was bright red.

"It's so hot," Lavinia moaned, not seeming to recognize any of them. Gray immediately prepared another sheet of ice and laid it on the burn on her shoulder. The sudden change it temperature seemed to startle Lavinia for a moment, but she adjusted to her preferred coldness quickly. The sheet melted almost instantly, causing Gray to make another, but it was healing the inflamed skin, and slowly her color started to return to normal.

Everyone waited with baited breath as Gray attended to the god-slayer. It wasn't until her usual color had returned to her and she had stopped taking shuddering breaths that Natsu dared to open his mouth. "What happens when you sleep?" he asked in a surprisingly uncertain tone. "I mean, you were really red this morning when Kaia and I woke up, but we didn't hear you screaming, that's for sure."

Lavinia bit her lip, clearly uncomfortable. Since she had been on her own, which was for a few years now, she hadn't told a single soul about her weakness. Of course, almost anyone who knew was aware that she hated the heat, but no one knew why she hated sleeping, why she couldn't around other people. And that was one secret the God-Slayer wasn't willing to reveal just yet.

"I-I can't talk about it," she stammered. "The screaming was because I was burned and it hurt," she said, a bit defensively.

Natsu and Gray looked like they were going to argue with the ice-blonde further, but one look from Erza kept them silent. Erza looked down on the new guild member thoughtfully. She didn't want to intrude upon Lavinia's privacy, but Erza's instincts were telling her that the God-Slayer was purposely withholding vital information. With a small sigh, Erza decided not the push the issue for now, but if things got bad in the future, she would revisit the situation. Still, there was no way she was going to let Lavinia burn again. "Go back to sleep. I'll take watch from now on. Gray, you sleep with Lavinia."

At her words, Gray sweat-dropped and started stammering incoherently, while Lavinia just sat there with a shocked, perplexed expression on her face. Natsu, on the other hand, was on his back, laughing his head off. He would have continued as such for a long while if Lucy hadn't hit him. Erza rolled her eyes at the Ice-Mage. "I just meant to keep her cool enough so she can sleep!" Erza growled. "Don't be stupid Gray, it doesn't become you any."

"No." To Erza's surprise, it was Lavinia who spoke. Her features were steeled, but she was making a show of looking anywhere but at Gray. "I don't want to go back to sleep with this burn. I'll take watch for the rest of the night. And don't try to argue," Lavinia added, noticing Erza's and Lucy's open mouths. "I'm too stubborn for it to do any good. I'm staying up and that's that."

"No, we're not done discussing this," Erza started, using the same tone she always did when trying to stop Gray and Natsu from ripping each other to pieces. Most people would have cowed upon hearing that tone, but Lavinia glared right back at the powerful wizard, her gaze no less fierce.

Suddenly, a scream ripped its way through the night. Everyone instantly recognized the noise as belonging to the monster. The group leapt up and began running toward the sound of the noise. Erza was going to insist that Lavinia stay behind, but the blonde was already ahead of all of them, and only her attacks had proven effective on the monster.

It wasn't long before they found the hulking creature. To their surprise, they also found two wizards attending to the creature. Erza flung her hand out, motioning for the group to remain until they figured out just exactly what they were up against.

"Damn wizards!" One of the men was saying. "I can't figure out how to melt this ice off his arm. We've already tried fire, and that's not working. Have you ever seen ice like this?"

"It might be the FairyTail guild," the other one growled. "They have a powerful ice mage, although I've never heard about his ice being black. That's what's bothering me the most. Unless we can prove that FairyTail is meddling with dark magic. Oh, I would love to be the one to expose FairyTail for the cowering upstarts they are."

"What did you say about FairyTail, you gutless punk?!" Erza was too slow to stop Natsu as he ran out towards the men, an orange aura flaring up around him. Erza swore under her breath, then ran after him. Lucy followed, but Gray and Lavinia held back, staying out of sight.

"The rest of you distract them," Lavinia whispered. "I'm going to get myself up in one of the trees and see if I can surprise attack them while they're occupied with you." Gray nodded his consent, but just before Lavinia was about to take off, he put his hand on her arm.

"Be careful," he warned her. Lavinia hesitated for a moment, then thanked him quickly before shooting up into the trees. Gray made sure she landed safely before joining the fray with his friends.

Erza had succeeded in taking one of the wizards out for the count, but she was forced motionless by a spell the other one had cast. Natsu and Lucy were similarly incapacitated. Before Gray could utter a single spell name, the other wizard cried, "Card Magic: Bind!" Gray suddenly felt as if hundreds of slim cords were wrapped around him, keeping him rooted to the spot. The more he struggled against the restraints, the tighter they held.

The wizard had obviously believed he had succeeded. "You FairyTail rats are finished!" he yelled in triumph. "You might have frozen the arm of my monster, but it can still eat you." He gestured to the beast, and for the first time, seemed to notice that it was completely frozen solid. Lavinia was perched on top of his head like a throne, obviously pleased with herself. She had done the whole thing so quickly, the monster hadn't even been able to utter a sound.

"I wouldn't be so sure of your victory yet," Lavinia said as she slid down to the ground. The wizard sweat-dropped at the sight of her.

"You-you're the Ice Bitch!" he cried. Erza gasped; she alone seemed to recognize the title. Natsu, Lucy, and Gray were completely clueless as to why Lavinia was called the Ice Bitch, and why the wizard spoke with such fear in his voice when he said the name.

Lavinia sighed. "You know, I really, really hate that name," she said before lurching forward and landing on the wizard's back. At an instant the man was frozen, covered in glossy black ice, the ghost of his last scream still etched in his face.

Immediately, the magic binding on all of the others broke. Natsu almost fell at the sudden release; he had never stopped straining against it, but the others were more graceful. But they approached Lavinia hesitantly, especially Erza. "Why did you not tell us who you were?" Erza demanded.

"Wait, can someone clue me in? Who the heck is the Ice Bitch?" Lucy asked.

"She's a wizard that has been wreaking havoc for about a year now," Erza explained. "There was actually a request on the S Class Board to take her out, kind of like how we found Kaia. Cana took the job a month ago, and do you remember what happened to her? She almost lost an arm."

"I didn't mean to do that," Lavinia suddenly butt in. "If you're talking about the brunette who drinks a lot, I never meant to hurt her. By that time I was just trying to scare people away."

"Why did you want to become such a threat in the first place?" Natsu inquired.

"I don't need to explain my actions to any of you," the blonde Slayer huffed. "I did what I did because of extremely trying circumstances, and in case you haven't noticed, I've reformed. I've joined FairyTail. Not to mention I just saved all your butts just a few minutes ago, in case you've forgotten about that important detail."

That knocked any lingering arguments out of the ballpark. Erza bowed her head apologetically. "You're right," she admitted. "I should know better than anyone that someone's past does not define them. For how long as I've known you, albeit not very long, you have been a loyal friend, and proven yourself a true member of FairyTail. Please forgive me."

"Nothing to forgive," Lavinia said softly, relaxing her stiff posture. "I probably would have done the same if I had been in your shoes. I know I've gotten a bad reputation throughout the years. But now I'm trying to mend what I've broken. I want to start over."

"And FairyTail will give you that opportunity," Erza promised as she offered Lavinia her hand. The blonde shook it, all harsh words aside. Lavinia gestured to the beast.

"Erza, you might want to smash that. Even my ice won't last forever," she said. Erza nodded, and quickly decimated the ice. She decided that she would take the two wizards into custody; Lavinia assured them they would unfreeze within a few days. The Council could decide what they wanted to do about them. And for once, FairyTail didn't destroy anything.

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><p><strong>AN: **_**A: Wow, lots of stuff happened in this chapter! What's going on with Lavinia? Care to comment Emma? …..Ah, well, I had to try! Subscribe/follow this story or us or both to get more updates! UNTIL NEXT TIME MY LOVELIES!**_

_E: This chapter was so much fun to write, Lavinia is a blast. Sneak peek for next time: Back at the guild hall, we get to figure out who Lavinia's new best friend is. I can say with confidence that it's not who people will be expecting. Please review, and thank you so much for reading!_


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **_E: Hello there all you beautiful people! We are here to present to you, another chapter. This one created some very interested text conversations between Anabelle and myself, and I hope you liked what we pulled out of those conversations. Oh, and let's add a disclaimer, because we haven't done that yet. DISCLAIMER: Hiro Mashima owns FairyTail, which is very obvious because Lavinia and Kaia are not part of the canon yet (though that hasn't stopped us from trying…)._

_**A: Yo yo yo! What is up in this hiz-ouse!? *cricket noises*…. No?**_

_No._

_**Dang it. Anywhoolde! Hope you enjoy this chapter Lovelies!**_

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><p><em>Previously on Thaw My Heart…<em>

"_Nothing to forgive," Lavinia said softly, relaxing her stiff posture. "I probably would have done the same if I had been in your shoes. I know I've gotten a bad reputation throughout the years. But now I'm trying to mend what I've broken. I want to start over."_

"_And FairyTail will give you that opportunity," Erza promised as she offered Lavinia her hand. The blonde shook it, all harsh words aside. Lavinia gestured to the beast._

"_Erza, you might want to smash that. Even my ice won't last forever," she said. Erza nodded, and quickly decimated the ice. She decided that she would take the two wizards into custody; Lavinia assured them they would unfreeze within a few days. The Council could decide what they wanted to do about them. And for once, FairyTail didn't destroy anything._

Now…

"Wow, we actually got the money for once," Gray muttered. "Maybe you're the good luck charm we need," he told Lavinia. She just shifted uncomfortably in her seat under his gaze. She didn't know why Gray made her feel so unnerved, but she didn't like it one bit. She already made an oath to herself not to get involved with men, not after—

No. She wouldn't allow herself to think the names. It was just too painful. She settled on looking away from him and out the window instead. They were on the train ride back, almost to the guild hall. Even with the money cut five ways, Lavinia knew she was already so close to having enough to make a down payment on an apartment. Then, she would be spared the humiliation of others asking awkward questions about her skin. She wasn't going to tell them, plain and simple. The sooner they accepted that, the better.

The awkward tension between her and Gray was palpable throughout the entire ride back. Neither Ice-Mage had forgotten that Erza had tried to get them to sleep together. Both of them knew that she hadn't meant _sleep together_ sleep together, but it was still awkward as hell. Natsu's pain-filled moans were the only sounds breaking the silence until they reached the train station in Magnolia. The second the train landed, he had run off, in the direction of the guild.

"We should probably return to the guild to tell the master that we're back," Erza said. The rest of the group nodded, and they followed after Natsu. Lavinia, who was walking in between Erza and Lucy, was extremely aware that Gray was right behind her. She could feel the Ice-Mage's eyes trained on her the entire walk to the guild. Even though she was shrouded between Lucy's and Erza's much taller bodies, Lavinia had never felt more exposed.

The second the party reached the guild, Lavinia went straight over to Mira and ordered a glass of crushed ice. Mira had one instantly ready for the God-Slayer, and refilled it several times for the blonde while Erza recounted their small adventure.

Erza hadn't finished talking for but a moment when the group heard Natsu's voice behind them. "I love you so much, Sei," he said, with utter devotion in his voice.

Gray, Lucy, Erza, and Mira didn't think anything of his words. They all knew the story of Seiko, and while some members of the guild were still a little unsure of her, they accepted her for the most part. But Lavinia had never been told of Seiko's existence. The second the name left Natsu's lips, her eyes instantly grew wide with fury. She slammed her cup down on the table and launched herself over the chair, tackling Natsu with wild fury.

"HOW… DARE… YOU… CHEAT… ON… KAIA!" Lavinia screeched, punctuating her each of her words to put more emphasis on them. Natsu immediately sweat-dropped. If he had been scared of the God-Slayer before, now she utterly terrified him. "You have a loving and devoted wife, who is pregnant with your child, and you want to cheat on her?! And YOU," she yelled, suddenly turned toward the others who were still sitting there. "How are you okay with this? Do you even care about Kaia at all?" Erza slowly pointed behind Lavinia's head, where maniacal laughter could be heard. The blonde narrowed her eyes suspiciously, but looked in the direction that Erza was pointing. And standing there, holding onto a chair for support, was none other than Kaia, laughing as though she hadn't seen anything so funny for years.

"Oh-oh my God! Lavinia, I love you! If Gray doesn't marry you I will, that was-oh Mavis that was amazing! Hi, I'm Seiko, and I can't believe someone besides me can strike that level of fear into my husband, thank you so much you have made my decade," Seiko managed to get out through her cackling. Lavinia was utterly confused.

"Kaia, what the fuck are you doing?" she asked, shocking the entire guild with her language. The God-Slayer was just so _small_, the word just did not sound right coming out of her mouth. Seiko, however, was completely unperturbed. She just smiled wider.

"I see no one told you about me yet," she said. "Not that I mind. No dear, Kaia's still here, but I'm out to play right now. Oh, and Gray, shut your mouth. You look ridiculous with it hanging open." The Ice Mage barely registered her words. In fact, he hadn't heard much of anything since Seiko's little 'marry Lavinia' comment. In fact, the entire guild had noticed that. Many of them were whispering together, Macao and Wakaba even taking a bet on whether or not Gray had gotten lucky on their little trip. Lavinia was the only one who completely ignored Seiko's comment, but that was more out of shock than anything else.

"Kaia and Seiko share the same body," Natsu said, breaking the awkward tension in the air. "But I love Seiko just as much as Kaia, and neither of them really care. You can't have one without the other anyway."

"Oh… why didn't you just tell me?" Lavinia asked, standing up. Natsu too rose to his feet, rubbing his head where Lavinia had knocked it to the floor. He then proceeded to tell Lavinia the entire story about Kaia and Seiko, occasionally interrupted with side comments from Seiko. Lavinia sat through the entire thing quietly, her expression void of any emotion.

There was silence as Natsu's voice faded. It seemed as though the entire guild was holding its breath to see what Lavinia's reaction would be. Seiko, however, was resigning herself to face hatred and fear from yet another person. She didn't mind, much. Natsu was the only one who ever saw any value in her anyways. And as long as he accepted her and loved her, she was perfectly happy.

After one long moment, Lavinia shrugged. "Alright," she said. She walked straight up to Seiko, and held her hand out. "Sorry for mistaking you for Kaia earlier. Are we cool?" The bluenette looked at the hand like she didn't understand what Lavinia was trying to do by putting it out there.

Truthfully, Seiko was shocked. There was not even a hint of malice in Lavinia's eyes, no trace of even fear. And she was speaking to Seiko as if she were a separate person from Kaia. Only Natsu had ever understood that Kaia and Seiko were two separate people—sure other people _tried_ but none really ever succeeded. But here was Lavinia, actually apologizing for getting her and Kaia mixed up. "Wait, what?" she asked, caught completely off guard.

"I just want to apologize for thinking you were Kaia," Lavinia said again, a bit more slowly. "Natsu explained things pretty well. You're not Kaia, and I'm sorry I thought you were. From what Natsu said, you don't like it when people think that you and Kaia are the same person."

Seiko stood there with the most innocently confused look that anyone had ever seen on her face. "O-okay," she said, uncertainly and quietly, but shook Lavinia's hand all the same. The blonde smiled at Seiko, and Seiko didn't want to admit it, but the smile was almost… _friendly_. People only ever gave Kaia that smile. Beyond confused, Seiko settled for something she was comfortable with and promptly sat down in Natsu's lap, her arms around his torso, and her face half buried in his scarf clad neck.

"So, Lavinia, how did you get the nickname Ice Bitch?" Natsu asked. Lavinia scowled at the words, but she soon had much bigger problems to worry about. Natsu was not known for being a quiet person. The entire guild heard his question, and Cana, who was engaging in her usual activity of drinking an entire tankard, suddenly spit the drink from her mouth.

"Wait… you're the Ice Bitch?" she asked, glaring at Lavinia.

"Thanks so much, Natsu," the God-Slayer mumbled before raising her voice to address the entire guild. "Yes, I used to be the Ice Bitch. Yes, I know I almost messed up your arm, Cana, but I promise it was in self-defense only."

"Yeah right," Cana snorted. "I heard all sorts of horrible things you had done to the nearby towns when I took the mission. They were going through a famine because you destroyed all their crops. And when I finally found you, which took me three full days, all you did was graze my arm, and it nearly froze. There was black frost all over my arm, and if it had completely frozen I'm sure I would have gotten frostbite. Not to mention you obviously didn't want anyone to know who you were; you had a thing of black ice over your face. That's why I didn't recognize you when you joined the other day."

"Look, the only reason I came to FairyTail was because I realized that I was going down the wrong path. I was young enough to create a new destiny for myself. And that's what I did. Accept it," Lavinia snarled. She was entirely done with all the prejudice she was receiving. She had been preparing for it, sure, but Cana was seriously testing her patience. If Lavinia had really wanted to kill the brunette, Cana wouldn't be sitting there arguing. The blonde was positive in that regard.

"We don't judge people based on their past," Erza reminded the entire guild in a powerful tone; most of them had once again been whispering about who they thought Lavinia really was. "We judge people on who they are now, and I will vouch for Lavinia. She saved all of our lives on our mission, and she even did it without destroying anything. When was the last time that happened?" All her words did was cause even more murmuring throughout the guild. Cana, however, was still glaring murderously at Lavinia.

The blonde wasn't going to take that, not without a fight. "You wanna go, Cana?" she asked suddenly. "I can see in your eyes that you want a rematch; let's go." That immediately sparked Cana's interest.

"If you really want to do that, I'm all for it," Cana grinned, bringing out her favorite cards. Macao and Wakaba started clearing tables away, but Lavinia looked at them scathingly.

"Uh, we're going outside guys," Lavinia said. "I mean, unless you want me to freeze the entire guild. That's a very real possibility. If we're outside I might be able to keep the damage down to a minimum. Natsu, come with me."

"Why me?" Natsu asked, slightly apprehensive. He didn't mind that the blonde had once been known as the Ice Bitch, but she intimidated him just as much as Erza. He knew that she wouldn't hesitate to tackle him again if he made her mad, just as she'd done when she thought he'd been cheating on Kaia.

"Because if I accidentally freeze someone, dragon fire is the only thing hot enough to melt them out without them suffering extreme frostbite," the God-Slayer explained. "I'm not going to try and cause any guild mates real harm, but sometimes I can't control my freezing power, especially in the middle of a fight. Usually, when I'm in an intense situation, if you touch any part of my body, you're a goner. I just want to take precautions." Natsu nodded in agreement to her words, and he joined the rest of the guild in following the two women outside. Mages and humans alike had already begun forming a large circle around Cana and Lavinia, anxiously waiting for the fight to begin.

Gray, however, was apprehensive. He knew that Lavinia was one of the most talented wizards he had ever met, but for some inexplicable reason, he was worried for her safety. He had seen how that burn she'd received completely incapacitated her for a while. Cana didn't use fire magic, but even that knowledge didn't stop Gray from worrying.

Lavinia and Cana circled each other carefully, neither woman taking their eyes off each other. Cana was the first to attack, summoning several burly, axe-wielding men. They all went straight for Lavinia.

"Frost God: Boost!" the Slayer commanded. At her feet, small blocks of ice appeared, quickly pushing her forward towards Cana. She weaved and dodged around the men Cana conjured, and went straight for the brunette herself. Cana responded by conjuring even more people, this time bikini-clad women (much to Macao and Wakaba's delight). The space became too crowded for Lavinia to maneuver around. Cana had forced her to take a stand.

"Frost God: Shield!" Lavinia shouted. Her spell, though almost identical in wording to one of Gray's favorites, had a very different effect. Translucent black ice encased almost her entire body, save for her arms and feet. The ice effectively blocked every attack that hit it; no part of it even cracked, much less shattered. "Frost God: Freeze!" Everyone in the near vicinity, even those just passing by the guild hall, heard the Slayer. Her arms became deadly weapons: each time one of Cana's creations tried to touch them, they were instantly frozen. Lavinia had turned herself into an invincible machine.

It wasn't long before the blonde had taken out enough of her foes to reach Cana. Her arm shot out, and the entire guild gasped, positive that Cana was about to become a black popsicle. However, they underestimated the reach of Lavinia's arm. The blonde made sure to time her attack so that her hand would stop just short of Cana's face. The boosters on her feet too, disappeared just in time.

Cana snarled for a moment, obviously upset about being bested again. She and Lavinia held their poses, muscles tensed. It was Cana who finally backed down. She slowly held her hands up in surrender. The God-Slayer too, relaxed her aggressive stance.

"If I really wanted to hurt you, I would have done it then," Lavinia said. "Do you finally believe me now?" Cana paused for the space of a heartbeat, then slowly nodded her head.

"I'm not going to lie, you are a seriously talented wizard," Cana admitted. That earned a rare smile from Lavinia.

"So are you, that was a most interesting fight," the God-Slayer responded. Cana inclined her head in acknowledgement, then stepped back into the crowd of people, leaving Lavinia standing alone, hundreds of eyes trained on her. She looked back at them with no fear whatsoever, but with a fierce pride.

"Does anyone else have a problem with me?" she asked, raising her arms. "Now's the time to come forward, I don't want to have to do this again. Speak now or forever hold your peace." For a few moments, a deadly silence palpable through the air. Then a lone figure stepped forward.

"Girl, you are freaking brilliant!" Seiko grinned wickedly. "I have no problem with you, but I'm bored. Let's fight!" Lavinia matched Seiko's smile perfectly, which Seiko took as an invitation to proceed. "Yo, someone toss her a cuff!" she called out. Lucy slid the cuff off her wrist and tossed it to Lavinia. She caught it and examined the cuff carefully.

"What's this for?" she asked Seiko.

"Kaia explained to you that I've got too much magic for my body to hold," Seiko said. "That cuff will allow you to use magic, but it will be from me. That way we can fight and I can get a nice release of magic at the same time. We'd also be on an equal playing field, because let's face it, I would beat all of you if it was a test of endurance."

Lavinia suddenly threw the cuff straight back at Lucy, acting as if it had burned her. "What the hell?" Seiko asked the blonde. "I'm not going to fight you if you don't have that cuff on."

"Then there won't be a fight," Lavinia said. Her tone was calm, but her face betrayed her emotions; anyone looking into her eyes could see the tumultuous storm that was brewing beneath the surface.

"Come on, Lavinia, it's not like you're going to hurt me or the baby, just wear the thing," Seiko huffed, one hand on her hip. Even pregnant, she managed to look fierce.

"No!" Lavinia screeched. The storm was unleashed; and the full fury of her wrath descended upon them like lightning. Her eyes, if angry before, were now murderous. Several people took steps back when the full force of her tempest fell upon them. "My magic will NEVER come from another source. That honor is mine and mine alone, and you cannot take it from me!" With that, she stormed off, the crowds instantly parting before her.

There could have been no doubt about it now. Lavinia was hiding something, something that she definitely didn't want the rest of the guild to know.

Gray hesitated a moment, and then hurried after her. He was no less affected by the God-Slayer's storm, but unlike most of the spectators, he wasn't afraid of the one who wielded it. No, if anything, Gray just wanted to learn more about the mysterious blonde.

He found her not long after he started searching. She was roaming the streets, and even those who hadn't been present for the fight were moving out of her way. Not wanting to lose sight of her, Gray ran up and put his hand on her shoulder.

She turned around instantly, arm raised as though ready to strike. Her eyes were still an enraged storm, trying to ward off invaders, but Gray wouldn't leave until he knew more about her. He forced himself to meet the storm head on, and after a few moments, he knew he had prevailed. Lavinia's eyes softened, and she lowered her arm from its defensive position.

"What do you want?" she asked, obviously trying to sound cold and distant, but Gray thought he heard a faint waver in her strong tone.

"To talk," he responded, to which she scoffed.

"I'm not going to explain anything I did back there, so if someone sent you to try and get answers from me, they're wasting their time-"

"No, not about that," Gray said, cutting her off. "I just want to know more about you, as a person. Let's just forget all the magic stuff for a while, alright? Can you at least tell me more about you?"

Lavinia's guard slipped for a moment, her mouth falling open slightly. She had heard those exact words five years ago, under very different circumstances. But she quickly recovered from her shock, putting up her cold façade once more. "What could you possibly want to know about me?" she asked the black-haired mage.

"Well, maybe your last name for one thing," Gray said. "You saved my life the other day, and I don't even know your full name." Lavinia hesitated, but Gray stood his ground. He wasn't going anywhere until she had given him an answer.

"Soya," she finally said in a soft voice. "Lavinia Soya."

Gray kept up a cool persona, but he was secretly thrilled. Finally, he was getting somewhere with the blonde Slayer. He pressed on, making sure to keep matters trivial. That seemed the best way to get her to open up. "How old are you?" he asked. That remark actually caused the corners of Lavinia's lips to turn up slightly.

"Why don't you take a guess?" she smirked.

"Ah… damn," Gray muttered to himself. Lavinia had one of those faces that was timeless; she could have been 13 or 30. But, thinking of her command over her power and natural authority, Gray thought she had to have been at least his age, maybe even a couple years older. "Twenty-four?" he guessed.

This time, he was rewarded a peal of real laughter from the God-Slayer. "Not even close," she chortled. "Geez, I thought you were going to guess younger than I am; most people do. I'm nineteen, but I'll be twenty in a couple weeks."

"You're only nineteen years old?!" Gray blurted before he could stop himself. He was utterly dumbfounded. She was four years younger than he was; he'd be twenty-four before the month was over. He couldn't imagine anyone having the kind of power Lavinia had at nineteen, much less being able to beat wizards like Cana. Gray figured that if she wanted to, Lavinia probably could have taken on the entire guild and won. The only exception to the rule might have been Kaia, but that was only because of her unlimited magic.

For the first time, Gray was aware of who stood before him. That little blonde could very well have been the most powerful mage he'd ever known. And all he wanted to do was get to know her even better.

"How old are you?" she asked him, snapping him back to reality.

"Oh, I'm twenty-three at the moment, but I'm turning twenty-four on the twenty-second of this month," he responded.

"There were far too many 'twenty's' in that one sentence," the blonde pointed out. She mulled something over in her mind for a few seconds. "Wait… you said your birthday was on the twenty-second, of December, right?" Gray nodded his head in affirmation. "Well, mine's on the twenty-first," Lavinia revealed. "I was born right on the solstice, at midnight."

"Is that why you decided to deal in Ice Magic?" Gray asked, grinning. He crossed his fingers that he wasn't pushing the boundaries too far just yet. He didn't want Lavinia to think that he was just using her for information; no, he genuinely wanted to know.

"It was kind of an accident that I fell into magic," Lavinia replied, and, to Gray's astonishment, in such an easy tone. "Actually-" she cut herself off here, suddenly aware of what she was saying. "I'm not talking about this," she asserted, but she wouldn't look Gray in the eye.

Gray's first response would have been to argue. If it was anyone else, he would have, or he would have stopped caring. But Lavinia was guarded, one of the most guarded people that he had ever met. Yet, just a few moments ago, he had gotten through to her. Gray had to remind herself how new she was to FairyTail; she fit in so naturally with their team it was hard to imagine that she hadn't been there for years. She would open up to them, eventually.

"If you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to," Gray told the blonde. "I'm not going to force you. What I am going to say is you are one helluva mage. I've never seen people use magic the way you did in that fight with Cana."

"Thank you," Lavinia said, and for the first time, Gray was privileged to see her real smile. It softened her face, and made the God-Slayer almost seem innocent, and a thousand times more beautiful than she already was. That smile completely lightened her face, and it was as though sunlight itself was shining out from beneath her skin. And Gray wanted nothing more than to make her smile like that again.

As for Lavinia, she was baffled by the dark haired man. She sensed no ulterior motive from him. He wanted to seem to want to get to know her for who she was, not to use her power as a way to achieve his own goals. She'd had enough of that for one lifetime.

Instead, Gray seemed to want nothing more than a friendship with her. But Lavinia had never had a true friend before, and she was more than unsure of how to respond. She had thought she had been friends with both of _them_, but both of those situations turned out to be absolutely disastrous.

But that was why she had come to FairyTail, wasn't it? Yes, a part of the reason was to make up for crimes she'd committed while under the persona of the Ice Bitch. But another part was that she had been desperately craving human companionship. Even her cold heart was not made entirely out of ice. She still had basal human needs under her frosty exterior. She loved being around everyone at FairyTail, and Natsu, Erza, Kaia, Lucy, and Gray had almost immediately added her to the family they had created together. If it were any of them, Lavinia was sure she wouldn't have felt as strongly as she was now. But it was Gray. Gray, the Ice Mage, Gray, the one that seemed to want to know her more than any of the others, Gray, the one whom, against her will, she found way too attractive for her own good.

She knew it was wrong. She knew that every person she had ever gotten close to had caused her pain. And yet she didn't want to push Gray out. So she simply continued to stare into his deep blue eyes, even as he gazed into her brown ones.

The moment could have been a second, or it could have lasted an eternity. All either Ice Mage knew was they their eyes were locked together until a coarse shout brought them both out of their stupors. "Gray! Lavinia! There you are!"

The voice was quickly identified as belonging to Erza. With her were Natsu, Seiko, Lucy, Happy, and Rose. "Lavinia, is your burn still going to bother you while you sleep?" Erza asked, getting straight to the point. Lavinia shifted uncomfortably but she nodded. There was no point denying anything the Requip Mage said; they had all seen what had happened the night before. "In that case, I think it might be best if you weren't at Kaia and Natsu's house tonight. Natsu means well, but I don't want to risk him getting excited and accidentally burning you in the process, especially not while the burn on your arm is still healing. I would offer you to stay at my place for the evening, but I would have nothing to help you if your burn starts acting up again in the middle of the night. There's only one option left."

"Erza, what are you getting at?" Gray asked slowly, starting to understand where the red headed wizard was saying. _He_ certainly didn't mind one bit, but he didn't want to make Lavinia uncomfortable and ruin any semblance of a friendship they had built in their earlier conversation.

"Lavinia is going to have to stay the night with you Gray. That is what I'm getting at," Erza responded. She was met with nothing but Lavinia's open mouth, as the God-Slayer tried to process what to do. Gray held his breath, not even daring to hope.

"I agree," Lavinia said after a moment stunning everyone. "If you don't mind Gray, I would be grateful for some help with the burn if it becomes a problem."

For a moment, Gray was too shocked to speak. "Dude, she's offering to go to your apartment, willingly! Which means you wouldn't have to get a girl drunk for her to go home with you for once," Natsu told him in a side whisper. "Are you seriously gonna let this opportunity go?" Gray elbowed the Dragon-Slayer in the rib cage to shut him up, then turned to Lavinia.

"Right this way," he told her.

The two Ice-Mages were about to set off when Erza called out for them to wait. She had seen how uncomfortable Lavinia had become, and the red haired mage took it upon herself to ease that discomfort, seeing as she was the one who suggested the idea in the first place. "Why don't we all go together, just to make sure you get all settled in?" she offered. Gray gave her a look, but nodded just the same, and the group set off down the streets of Magnolia, apprehension filling the bones of the two Ice-Mages in their midst.

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><p><strong>AN: A: **_**Well that was fun! Let us know how we did in a REVIEW, because we love hearing from you! Ain't that right Em?**_

_**UNTIL NEXT TIME MY LOVELIES!**_

_E: She is right. We do heart us some reviews. THE MORE THE MERRIER! Did you catch who her best friend is going to be? Sneak peek for next time: Lavinia and Gray attempt to look over their awkwardness and spend the night together, and wake up to a rather compromising issue. We'll see you then!_


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